2nd Series 03/7 - What Dreams May Come
by Laura the infamous B
Summary: A tag to Double bind.


  
**What Dreams May Come**   
by: Laura Boeff

The soft shuffle just barely pricked at the edge of his consciousness and even then, it took a whole second to register. Frowning, Ace looked around the living room where he was currently stretched out, on the couch, with a book. The hour was late... Way late, but traveling always disturbed his sleep and he found solace amongst the massive collection of his books.   
The scuffle came again, soft... hesitant. It also came from the hall. A shadow flitted there, the Express's light being dimmed in the night time hours. A slight shifting of dark on dark.   
"Cosmo?" Ace called uncertainly. The shadow froze, caught and yet not.   
Ace's frown deepened. Cosmo should have been sleeping. They'd been traveling all day, the teen handling most of the actual driving during their eight hour trip. It had been two days since the last show in Electro City and now they were starting their multi city tour.   
Setting the book aside, Ace rose slowly, peering in to the dark hall.   
"Cosmo, are you okay?" he called worriedly. He had reason to worry. Cosmo had survived his first real clash with his magical abilities... Just barely. Outwardly the teen was as bright and vibrant as ever, but that was outwardly. To Ace's shrewd eye the taint of that moment hung like a dark cloud. Small looks, quick actions, said more then any brief glance would lead one to believe.   
"Sorry, Ace," Cosmo said, voice barely above a whisper. "Didn't mean to disturb you."   
It was said as much of an apology as a retraction of his presence and the shadow started to drift into the halls darkness. Something was very wrong. Every protective instinct Ace owned came to life at the lifeless voice that had answered his entries.   
"Your welcome to stay," Ace called, making his way to the door, casually, without provocation. A small hesitation, a slight, trembling breath gave him the insight he needed. Something had roused Cosmo from his sleep. Something dark and malignant had sent the teen to roaming the halls in search of some comfort. A comfort the young man obviously felt uncertain in acquiring from him. Ace sighed softly. They were so very alike. So outgoing in appearance, so private in thought, but where as Ace had Mona to turn to in those uncertain moments, Cosmo had no one. Or thought he had no one.   
"It's okay, Cosmo. I would like the company," he offered openly, no strings attached. A pause, then the shadow approached, hovering just outside the light caste from the living room. Cosmo's form shaping a hesitant dark spot, arms hugging a slender body tight.   
"You sure you don't mind?" The question had many levels, many meanings, and Ace accepted them all without hesitation.   
"Of course not, Cosmo," he returned with open honesty. "Please..."   
And yet Cosmo was still, at the edge of the light, as if unwilling to expose himself, unwilling to bare the demons the dark had gifted him with in the light of the living room. Ace said nothing as he raised his hands, the light lowering to a muted level. Then, and only then did Cosmo move, one bare foot stepping onto the thick carpeting that ran wall to wall here, clad in his blue boxers and T-shirt. The teen's typical sleepware.   
Even with the lights as low as they were, it was plainly apparent Cosmo had been crying, hair disheveled and falling in his face without the restraining headband. Gray eyes darted about uncertainly as he slowly approached, hands tightening on his trembling arms, as if afraid he'd be banished from here at any moment.   
"Trouble sleeping?" Ace asked gently, approaching as Cosmo stopped inside the room, testing the waters as it were.   
"Yea," he answered in a dim whisper, a tremble underscoring the power of his dreams unpleasant visit. He looked about nervously and Ace saw the boy of years past who'd come into his world with no trust, no faith and a soul deep loneliness. A loneliness Ace would not tolerate.   
"You look cold," he said sympathetically, pulling his cape from the chair where he'd discarded it earlier, wrapping it about exposed shoulders. A slight flinch as he touched, frightened and yearning. Lonely.... afraid.   
"Come, sit down," Ace suggested kindly, stepping away just enough to allow Cosmo to pass. Feet scuffling over the heavy carpet the teen made his way to the couch, curling up at it's far end, drawing his feet up into the capes silk depths, arms wrapping around his knees, eyes still darting uncertainly around.   
"Reading?" Cosmo asked suddenly, eyes touching briefly on the forgotten book, then off again throughout the room. Anywhere, but at Ace.   
"Nothing exciting," Ace answered dismissively. He didn't want to add any fuel to Cosmo's already nervous fire. Slowly he approached and sat, not quit far away and yet, not quit close, beside his friend. Cosmo scrunched himself up a little tighter, but a brief glance spoke the volumes he would not voice.   
Fear, a fear so great and deep that it could not be comprehended and yet, he felt unsure of how to share it. How to open up, even to the one person who was his closest friend, even sometimes father in all but blood.   
"You want to talk about it?" Ace pressed, ever so carefully. He knew that fear. The first time he'd touched the magic... He'd cried himself to sleep in the dark for many a night. Very alone, very afraid and very confused. All he had wanted was someone to assure him. To hold him and bear out the tears.   
There had been no one. Only the chilling darkness and the dreams beyond.   
"It's okay," Cosmo said at last, shifting in the black depths, a slight tremble rippling the soft fabric.   
"Is it?" Ace gently asked. The shiver grew pronounced and a visible effort was made to stop it, but there was no answer. Ace sighed softly to himself and discreetly slid over, closer to the lost soul on his couch. Cosmo either didn't notice or didn't mind, eyes still wandering over the room.   
"You were dreaming about the magic?" he tried, voice light and unassuming. A negative shake was his answer and very puzzling. Ace's own demons had been caused by the memory of the burning fire that had been born of him. That had torn out of his body with a will all it's own. It was difficult to think of something more disturbing then that.   
"Cosmo?"   
The eyes finally meet his, locked in with a mad desperation. Tears threatened their worn edges and the pupils dilated as the nightmares touch returned, gracing the normally bright, gray eyes with a sickly tinge of dread. A soft sob tore free, though there had been an attempt to suppress it.   
Ace hesitated no longer and slid quickly over, wrapping one arm about the shuddering form, drawing Cosmo close, even as the teen stiffened under the sudden intimacy, fighting so briefly until the pain became overpowering.   
"It's okay," Ace hushed gently, as a sob broke free and Cosmo buried himself against the magician, body wracked with every heartfelt whimper.   
"So dark..." The words were soft and strained, but the force of their description was not lost on Ace.   
"What was dark?" Ace urged, letting his hand travel over the disrupted red locks, smoothing them back gently. He felt hot tears start to stain through the fabric of his shirt and tightened his hold, Cosmo burrowing deeper into his embrace.   
"So dark..." he murmured again, lost in the memory.   
"Talk to me, Cosmo," Ace called gently, trying to pull his partner from his viscous remembrance.   
"I wanted out...out..." Cosmo hiccuped, fought for breath and trembled. Ace made a soft hushing noise as he strove to breath.   
"It's okay, Cosmo... you're safe now,"   
A sharp, negative shake answered his statement. The trembling worsened and Ace tightened his hold.   
"It is," he assured firmly. "It's over."   
"Still there," Cosmo protested. "Still there..." Briefly the teen struggled to get free. To deny the nightmare he'd fought to escape and to return to the uncertain shadows of his misery. Ace would have none of it and pulled Cosmo closer, levering a considerable amount of strength against his friends struggles.   
"No, Cosmo. I want to help... don't be afraid," Ace argued with infinite care. Whether sensing his determination or simply given in to the inevitable, Cosmo ceased his escape attempt and went limp against him, small shivers wracking his body.   
"I wasn't dead.... wasn't alive... so dark, so alone," he said in a frightened rush. It was starting to make sense. Ace resumed smoothing back the red hair making little nonsense noises to comfort the tortured soul in his arms.   
"So alone..."   
"You're not alone anymore, Cosmo. You fought free," Ace reminded him, even as he reprimanded himself for not addressing this problem earlier. He'd been so happy when Cosmo had finally come to, that he'd never thought to ask what had happened during those two days where his partners presence had seemed to have flown in all but body.   
They obviously had not been spent in peacefully nothingness.   
"Tell me about it, Cosmo," he entreated softly, never stopping his reassuring caress. Cosmo shivered and buried his face against his chest, Ace easily feeling the racing heartbeat against his side as if it was his own.   
"I'll go back there," Cosmo whispered, mind seemingly roving of it's own accord.   
"I'll go back..."   
"No, Cosmo. No you won't," Ace interrupted. A weak cry of denial answered him and Cosmo shook his head again.   
"Inside me. It's inside me and it caught me, held me in the darkness," he protested Ace's claim. Ace hushed him and fervently tried to instill some calm. He suspected he understood what Cosmo was saying, but he didn't wish to risk any misunderstanding.   
"What's inside you, Cosmo? What are you afraid of?"   
"The magic." A shudder. "The dark... Alone."   
Ace hugged Cosmo fiercely, placing a soft kiss to a trembling brow.   
"The magic is not the darkness Cosmo. Do not be afraid of the magic," he offered calmly. "I won't let you go into the darkness again."   
The trembling didn't stop, but settled as a ragged breath was drawn.   
"I was alone. Forever," Cosmo whispered softly, voice hitching with strained breath. There was a pause, a struggle to gather air, then a sudden exhale.   
"You won't let me go back, will you."   
Much to Ace's surprise, it wasn't a question, but a statement. As if a realization had been struck. Cosmo shifted slightly, not pulling away, but craning his head up to look at him through tear puffed eyes.   
Ace returned his gaze and found himself studied intently, as if some particular point was being searched out.   
"You were there." Cosmo said suddenly, softly. "I remember a light. You. It was you."   
Ace had no idea. But that seemed a moot point to Cosmo as he kept watching him, one brow slightly crumpled in consideration.   
"I don't know, Cosmo, but you don't have to afraid of the darkness anymore. You've faced it, you conquered it and now you're learning. You won't go back." Ace assured, though there was a kernel of doubt. Magic was so temperamental, a tricky partner to have. Cosmo had barely even started to learn to ignore the magic's touch, let alone how to wield it.   
'Are you lying?' the voice inside asked. 'How do you know it won't happen again?'   
-Because I won't allow it- He answered fiercely. He would not! Even if it took all his skill with the magic force to prevent it. Even if it took his life.   
The silent argument did not go unnoticed as Ace saw a shift in the searching gaze. Uncertain, afraid, then hopeful. Accepting in the end. Cosmo settled back against his chest, the shivers still dancing through young muscle, but no longer with the heavy impact of earlier.   
"You were there," he said so gently. "Alone.. but you came."   
Ace tightened his embrace, laying a cheek on top of Cosmo head, feeling the silk strands tickle his nose.   
"I will always be there, Cosmo. Whenever you need me. Never be afraid, of the dark or of coming to me for help," he assured solemnly, feeling the power of his own words calm his troubled friend at last. A sleepy sigh rustled the damp fabric of his shirt and tentatively a hand reached out and wrapped around his protective arm.   
"Thank you."   
The words summed up everything, past, present and future and healed whatever wounds might have been left forgotten.   
"Always there for you, Cosmo," Ace reiterated resolutely, settling into the couch's soft depths, pulling Cosmo with him. The two sitting in serene silence, content and secure. The comfort one had sought having brought peace to two.   



End file.
